The present invention relates to miniature stepping motors adapted for use particularly in electronic analogue-display timepieces such as wrist watch movements. The invention relates more particularly to a stepping motor of the type described in particular in Swiss Pat. No. 616.302, which contains a stator having two pole shoes bounding a substantially circular opening, a permanent magnet rotor mounted in this opening, and a fixed magnet located near the rotor in order to define a position of rest thereof.
In all motors of the type described above, the rotor-positioning magnet in mounted directly on the stator. This solution is not entirely satisfactory, because the interaction forces between the magnet and the stator make it difficult to place the magnet in position on the stator. This drawback could be overcome by fastening the magnet to a part made of non-magnetic material, such as the base-plate of a watch movement. In this case, however, it would be more difficult to ensure exact positioning of the magnet in relation to the stator.